All Mine?

I don't even know where to start with this one... I am a full-time 6th grade teacher. I am LOVING my job! Yes, I've spent almost every one of the last 15 days trying to keep my head above water, but hearing my colleagues affirmations and reminders that this is only my second week and I was just thrown into it are what keep me going every day. I walked into a district I had no experience in, a building I didn't even know existed, to a grade that I always said I'd never teach. I am SO glad that I took a chance. I know that for the last 6 years I've talked about Beaverton being my dream... but I don't think that Beaverton is necessarily the place for me. I have felt at home in Scappoose since I first walked in! It's easy to forget sometimes that I just started there.

Today I did an art project with my students. I wanted to make sure that the bulletin boards weren't bare for conferences. I made one as well, talking about the things I was thankful for. I secretly think that many of my students did a better job coming up with things to be thankful for than I did... but then they were thankful for things like soda and tacos... 

Each day we grow a little more and I make a little progress towards feeling like an organized teacher. For now, we work together to get things done and get to PE on time! :) I love my crazy 6th graders, from J&J and their never ending eagerness to help, not only me, but also their peers. MO and his I'm sorries. Now if only I could get a doc camera and figure out where I want my darn desk! :)

Opening Doors

What's the opposite of the saying "When it rains, it pours?" We all know that for the last 5 years I have been working my butt off trying to find my place. Not just in my career, but also in life. I've been trying to stay positive as door after door shuts. I've felt like I've been walking down a never-ending corridor of closed doors. Then a door opens... and suddenly those other closed doors aren't as big of a deal. They're still closed, and it still weighs heavily, but not as much as before. Behind that door was the most caring, understanding, and supportive guy I think I've ever met. A guy who gets me like no one has before. A guy who would do just about anything just to see a smile on my face. Because of him, I no longer hear the darkness screaming. 1:6billion

So... those doors... I'm still walking down that corridor, now with him by my side, delightfully distracting me from the ones still closed. Well, I was... you see another door has opened. I'm a little nervous... it feels a little big for me... But when I turn... I see him, there by my side. Beyond him I see everyone else, those of you who have supported my dreams and encouraged my passion. Now when someone asks what I do, I get to say I'm a teacher. And when they follow up with, "Oh, what grade?" I don't have to say, I'm a sub, or I work with all levels... I get to say, I teach 6th grade!

Yes, you read that correctly, I have a full-time, contracted, U.S., Oregon, Metro Area JOB! I feel like things are actually going in the right direction. I think, just maybe, this is what HIS plan was all along. I've tried really hard to believe and have faith that He does in fact have a plan, and I finally feel like I can see it. I can't believe that tomorrow I am going to sign my first contract.